Bt Research 2025, Vol.16, No.4, 147-156 http://microbescipublisher.com/index.php/bt 149 2.3 International public health organization's promotion and policy support for Bt measures International organizations have always actively advocated the inclusion of Bt and other biological control strategies in the comprehensive prevention and control of insect-borne diseases. In its Global Media Control Strategy (GVCR), the World Health Organization (WHO) clearly states that microbial juveniles should be promoted in areas where the breeding sites of vectors should be localized to reduce the single dependence on indoor retention sprays and chemical drugs. WHO recommends Bti and Bacillus spherical (Bs) as safe and efficient biocides, and provides relevant technical manuals to guide national health departments on how to stock and administer such preparations. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank also helped developing countries to introduce Bt preparations to carry out vector control of dengue and malaria (Ingabire et al., 2017). For example, the "TDR" project in conjunction with WHO conducted a community-engaged Bti mosquito killing demonstration in Colombia and Brazil in Latin America, demonstrating that it significantly reduces the Aedes vector index and dengue incidence and is welcomed by local residents. Based on these successes, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) promoted Bti technology to member states, citing it as an important part of the integrated dengue fever management (IMDM) strategy. Organizations such as the African Union and the Malaria Termination Alliance have also called for the inclusion of microbial insecticides in national malaria prevention and control policies to address the widespread problem of mosquito resistance (Dambach et al., 2020). Governments have taken action under the initiative of international organizations: India has added procurement and training of Bti products to the national malaria control plan; Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries use Bti for community mobilization of the "mosquito removal" campaign; Chinese disease control departments have also included Bti in the recommended list of new agents for the patriotic health campaign. 3 The Public's Scientific Understanding of Bt 3.1 Differences in the understanding of "biological prevention and control" and "genetic engineering" by the general public Due to insufficient popularization of scientific and technological knowledge, many publics do not have a clear concept of Bt biological control technology and often confuse it with genetically modified technology. The survey shows that in a national questionnaire in China, more than 60% of respondents have never heard of "Bacteria thuringiensis" or "do not know what Bt is", and a considerable number of people mistakenly believe that using Bt to kill insects means releasing "genetically modified bacteria". This cognitive bias makes it easy for the public to project concerns about GM foods or GM organisms onto Bt technology. When it was heard that "bacteria" were put into community ponds to kill mosquitoes, some residents were worried about "will these bacteria mutate" or "out of control in reproduction affect the ecology", it was obviously misunderstood Bt as artificially modified genetically modified microorganisms. In fact, Bt preparations are metabolites or spores of naturally occurring strains, and are not living organisms that change genetic material. The mechanism of action is completely different from genetic engineering (Zhang, 2024). However, these scientific differences are often not understood by the general public. In a Malaysian study, researchers found that community respondents generally confuse Bti spraying and GMO release of male mosquitoes before accepting popular science, and did not realize the difference until after explanation (Li et al., 2016). 3.2 The role of media reporting in shaping public perception The media is an important source of public scientific cognition, and its reporting methods and frameworks have a huge impact on public attitudes. If the media conducts accurate and positive reports on Bt technology, it can improve the public's scientific literacy and willingness to accept it; on the contrary, if the media exaggerates risks or disseminates false information, it may cause public panic and resistance. Taking the public opinion of GMO technology as an example: The study found that the framework adopted by the media in the coverage will significantly affect the public's technical attitude. When the media over-highlights negative or uncertainty, it is easy to aggravate public doubts; and if the media provides scientific consensus information, it may not be able to immediately reverse the formed public stance (Ibrahim et al., 2010). Experiments show that repeatedly conveying
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